Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c18.s3.116

c18.s3.116

The last notable king of Kanishka’s line was **Vāsudeva I**. His dates range from the year 67¹ to 98, *i.e.*, A.D. 145 to 176 according to the system of chronology adopted in these pages. He does not appear to have been a Buddhist. His coins exhibit the figure of Śiva attended by Nandi. There can be no doubt that he reverted to Śaivism, the religion professed by his great predecessor Kadphises II. A king named Vāsudeva is mentioned in the *Kāvya Mīmāṁsā* as a patron of poets and a *Sabhāpati*, apparently ‘President of a Society’ (of learned men). That the Kushān Age was a period of great literary activity is proved by the works of Aśvaghosha, Nāgārjuna and others. It was also a period of religious ferment and missionary activity. It witnessed the development of Śaivism and the allied cult of Kārttikeya, of the *Mahāyāna* form of Buddhism and the cults of Mihira and of Vāsudeva-Kṛishṇa, and it saw the introduction of Buddhism into China by Kāśyapa Mātaṅga (*c.* 61-68 A.D.). “The dynasty of Kanishka opened the way for Indian civilization to Central and Eastern Asia.”